| Summary: | 碩士 === 實踐大學 === 食品營養與保健生技學系碩士班 === 104 === Previous studies indicated that taxi drivers are commonly exposed to many unhealthy working conditions such as long hours, irregular shift work, sleep disturbances, stressful conditions, and unpredictable and harmful exposures to environmental pollution. In addition, they may experience prolonged sitting and physical inactivity to limit access to healthy foods. These conditions are major etiological factors for developing chronic disease and cancer. The aims of this study were to investigate the relation to work characteristics and dietary pattern among taxi drivers. Convenience-sampling method was used to recruit 129 taxi drivers. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain the data. Our result showed most of the subjects were 40-60 years old (70%), 8-12 working hours per day (63%), and no regular exercise (47%). Less than half (41%) of subjects were current smokers. Working more than 12 hours a day could significantly decrease sleep time and quality. About half of the subjects (55%) were diagnosed with chronic disease such as hypertension, hepatic steatosis, and diabetes mellitus, but their dietary pattern of health was no different from others. Taxi driver choose high-fiber cereals about five times a week and low-fat beans, fish & meat accounting for half of total meat intake, but milk, vegetables, fruits and nuts & seeds intake remained insufficient. Only 6.3% of the subjects reported that they were daily eating three cups of vegetables and two cups of fruits. Taxi drivers had moderate fat intake due to high proportion of eating outside. Drivers without day off significantly reduced intake of vegetables. Drivers employed by transport companies significantly reduced intake of low-fat milk, and drank more sugar-sweetened beverages and energy drinks. Drivers with graveyard shift significantly reduced intake of high-fiber cereals, and drank more sugar-sweetened beverages and energy drinks. As a conclusion, system-level or operating-style interventions including offering healthy food at taxi rest stop, creating a operating lifestyle of frequent walking breaks, focusing on decreasing smoking, and increasing physical activity were recommended to improve health for taxi drivers.
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